Bloody Mistletoe
by GreenEyesGreySkies
Summary: Oh, look, it's Christmastime at Hogwarts! Let the badly-named plans and misplaced mistletoe cliches begin!


**Author's Note: Just a random Christmas one-shot. Yes, it is quite cliché. Everyone's got to have one mistletoe fic, right? And I wrote this in like an hour so shush I know it's sort of crappy. I know.**

**Disclaimer: These boys ain't mine. Sadly. If they were, they'd be together forever and ever.**

**Warning: There's also a dash of Harry/Blaise in here. But only for like a second, you'll miss it if you blink. Not really, but honestly it's not that important. Just a heads up though, just in case. **

Harry sighed as he hastily sidestepped yet another 'subtly' placed mistletoe as he walked to Potions class. "Bloody 6th years," he grumbled, scowling at a group of Ravenclaw girls who were not so-slyly pouting over their spoiled plan. "And bloody mistletoe."

Honestly. Harry had loved Christmas season ever since he first came to Hogwarts, but things were getting out of hand this year in the romance department. At first, it was just a few pranksters who put up the pointless plant as a joke, but now everybody was messing around with mistletoe and as a result, there were a lot of new, strange couples popping up. It was a bit disorienting, to be quite honest. Harry raised an eyebrow when he caught a glimpse Pansy Parkinson and Parvati Patil snogging heatedly down the corridor from him. Now _that _was a new one.

He sighed and kept walking, only pausing to flash a small smile towards Ginny, who was holding hands with Justin Finch-Fletchley and beaming as if she'd won the Quidditch Cup single-handedly. He sighed again. Harry was glad that he and Ginny had remained friends even after their relationship failed miserably, but he was a bit peeved that she had already found someone and he hadn't. Because, really. Wasn't the dump-er supposed to move on first, not the dump-ee? And it had only been two months since they'd been together. Wasn't there supposed to be a longer mourning period or something like that? Or was that the wrong code? Merlin, he didn't even know. Girls were so odd.

But it wasn't as if he was bitter or anything. Not at all. Harry had plenty of other opportunities to get pulled under the mistletoe. But the thing is, he hated the goddamn plant. It was always showing up at the wrong place at the wrong time, and why would he want to kiss some random person anyway? It didn't sound like any fun to him. If he were going to kiss somebody, he'd like it to be someone who he cared about a lot, thank you very much. But even Ron and Hermione had told him that he was being irrationally absurd and that he should just enjoy the holiday fun. _Yeah, I should just enjoy being alone while everybody else is snogging around me, sounds brilliant. _He scowled at his feet as he walked. Right. Not bitter at all.

Harry was so deep in not-bitter thought that he didn't even realise that he wasn't watching where he was going and promptly crashed into another body, sending bags and parchments and quills flying in all different directions. Horrified at his own ineptness, Harry quickly began picking up the materials and apologising profusely, only to look up into the smirking face of Blaise Zabini. Oh.

"Thanks so much, Potter," the dark-haired Slytherin drawled. "You're a _saint_."

Harry rolled his eyes. Why did he always find himself in these predicaments? "No problem, Zabini," he muttered, handing the other boy his items silently and turning to go. He really didn't need this right now.

"Wait, Potter, you can't go," Zabini protested, grabbing his arm aggressively. His hand tightened to such a degree that Harry was sure there would be a red mark there later on.

Harry wasn't having it. He shoved him off with a glower. "And why not? I don't want to fight today. Really. So stop it."

He turned to go again and but found himself unable to._ Literally_. There was some kind of invisible force blocking him from moving more than 2 feet away from Zabini. "...What the _hell_?" he wondered out loud, trying to step away again with no more success. After a few tense moments, he had resulted to growling a bit and kicking at the invisible nothing with great frustration.

"Gah!" he cried.

Zabini snickered. Harry spun back around. "I swear to Merlin, Zabini, I will_ severely_ maim you if you do not tell me what you've done _this instant_!"

Zabini smirked lazily now. "Calm yourself, Potter. Just look up."

Look…? Oh. Oh damn. With a feeling of growing dread (and slight apprehension), Harry looked up slowly and immediately face-palmed when he saw that fucking plant. Of course! _Of course._ From all the people he could've gotten stuck under the mistletoe with, it had to be a Slytherin. A buddy of Malfoy's. Perfect. "Bloody mistletoe," he groaned piteously.

Zabini's smirk grew wider. "Well chop chop Potter, I haven't got all day. We're going to be late for class if you don't hurry up."

Harry glared at him. "What kind of sick joke is this? Do you think this is funny? I don't even like blokes!"  
>Zabini raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because that's not what I've seen."<p>

Harry looked away, feeling his cheeks flush with shame. All right. So maybe he hadn't always taken to just girls, and maybe Zabini knew it. But it had only been _one time_! A couple weeks ago, he'd stupidly gone to one of those inter-house-unity-where-everybody-was-supposed-to-be-bonding-but-really-they-were-all-getting-completely-smashed parties, thinking that it might be a good way to get out and let loose for once. And let loose, he did. Harry had apparently ended up snogging Seamus on the couch the entire night for everybody to see, according to Hermione. And sure, from what Harry could remember, it had been the steamiest snog he'd had ever had, but it was still immensely awkward when he had to explain once he was sober. Not that he did much explaining; more blushing and denying and avoiding. He _still _couldn't look Seamus in the eye, to this day.

"Whatever," he mumbled, willing his cheeks to stop flaming.

Zabini laughed. "Well if you'd rather not talk about your homosexual preferences—"

A glare.

A smug grin.

Silent stare-off.

After a long while, Harry sighed, giving in with irritation. He glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. "Fine," he grumbled, not wanting to be late for Potions anyway. With a bit of disgust, he leaned in and gave Zabini a quick peck on the cheek. "All right, bye." He whirled around to leave but again, he was stopped and he swore in frustration. Damn it. Why wasn't that enough? Were the Fates seriously condemning him to_ this_?

Zabini tapped his foot. "Any day now, Potter."

Fuck it. Harry made a little noise of defeat and pulled Zabini closer to him. "If you tell _anyone _about this, I'll rip your balls off and feed it to the three-headed dog," he whispered fiercely, twisting the front of Zabini's robes in his fist and purposefully pinching a bit of skin in the process.

Zabini didn't flinch. "Ooh, kinky."

Harry rolled his eyes and pressed tight lips on the other boy's.

**~x~**

"How am I betraying you?" Pansy asked a fuming Draco as they walked to Potions together, the long way. Draco didn't fancy having to bump into a crowd of students in his way; he preferred his space. Besides, nobody ever walked around here anyways. He could talk about whatever he wanted. Even with Pansy, who was still talking. "We were never really going out, you know that. I was just your—"

"Merlin's_ beard_!"

"Exactly!"

"No, I mean Merlin's beard, you're completely daft! Now that you're going lesbo on me, I've got no reason to stay away from girls. People will soon realise that I'm gay!"

"And why is that bad, Draco? Really, I don't see what's wrong, it's not like your father has any power over what you do anymore now that the stupid Dark Lord is dead. Besides, nobody would dare laugh at or tease you."

Draco pouted dramatically. "I don't want any of the moronic gits who go here hitting on me! When those oafs find out I'm gay, they'll be flocking to me like overgrown, hideous cows. I mean,_ look _at me! Have you ever seen such a flawless physique?"

Pansy snorted loudly. "That's your dilemma? Really?"

Draco glared at her. "Yes! Have you seen the blokes around? They're atrocious," he shuddered. "The only one who is almost decent-looking is Potter, and I'd eat my own left foot before I'd go around with him."

Okay, so maybe that was a bit of a lie. Potter was better than decent-looking and Draco would probably only _lick_his left foot at worst. Maybe not even that. Well, if he wanted to be completely honest with himself, he'd probably be more likely to eat his own left foot rather than _not_ go around with Potter. But details, details.

Pansy raised an eyebrow, apparently seeing right through him. "Isn't he straight anyways?"

Draco sighed. "Unfortunately, even though there was that one incident I heard about with Finnigan—but never mind that. Damn holidays. I hate them so much."

Pansy wiggled her finger at him disapprovingly. "Somebody's being a little Scrooge."

Draco frowned at her. "A what?"

She shrugged. "Muggle thing."

Draco stared at her in horror. "Your crazy Gryffindor girlfriend is turning you into one of _them_! Quick, go find a little child to harass before it's too late!" He shoved her down the next corridor, even though he was only half-kidding, and she pushed away from him with a laugh. As she turned the corner though, Draco saw her immediately stop laughing and freeze.

Draco furrowed his brows. "Pansy?"

She didn't respond and just continued staring at something in the corridor. Whatever it was must've been a pretty compelling sight, as in all the years Draco had known Pansy, he had never been quite able to shut her up. He frowned and slowly peered around the corner; only to be met by the most alarming sight of Potter and Blaise molded together, their lips like two blurs on their faces. Wait, what? Potter was_ gay?_

"What the hell?" he announced loudly before he could stop himself, causing the two boys to jump apart in surprise.

Potter looked absolutely mortified. His face was the colour of beets and Weasleys. "No, it's not what it looks like—it was just mistletoe—!"

Draco ignored him. "Blaise?" he asked for support. The other boy just smirked triumphantly, as if he had just snogged the greatest catch in the whole wizarding world. Which, Draco supposed, he had. Draco turned back to Potter and started to observe his uneasy appearance more intently. Maybe there was more to him than he'd previously thought.

"That was so hot," Pansy breathed, looking the two boys up and down in blatant appreciation.

Potter's face twisted like he'd tasted a lemon, an expression that would have been completely unattractive on anyone else, but of course looked goddamn adorable on him. Draco frowned. When had he started thinking of Potter as adorable? "Er, right," Potter stuttered, tripping on his trainers momentarily before scurrying down the hall to the Potions classroom as quickly as he could.

Blaise watched him go, shaking his head and only looking at Draco after Potter had completely disappeared. He smiled and took a mistletoe plant from his pocket and tossed it to Draco. "Here," he said lazily, turning to walk to class. "He's a brilliant kisser, but he'd probably be an even better shag. Why don't you find out for me, Draco?"

_Blaiiiise! _Draco wanted to complain, but he said nothing. He could only flush slightly and gaze down at the plant in his hands. It had a red ribbon tied around the stem and it made Draco think of Potter. Maybe he _would _try it out, if he was bored or something. Maybe. Pansy nudged his elbow along and they walked to class silently behind a seemingly self-satisfied Blaise.

**~x~**

Draco stared at the back of Potter's head while Snape lectured about the potion they were going to be making that day. He watched as the boy gathered ingredients and chopped up roots clumsily and botched up the whole thing—as usual. _It's not like I fancy Potter or anything_, he reasoned silently, observing Potter fruitlessly attempt to fix his atrocious concoction. _I just want to see for myself what a supposedly fantastic kisser he is. _Right. Well, that was a good enough excuse. Now how was he going to get that mistletoe over Potter's head? Draco glanced at the doorway and smiled as a plan started to form in his brain.

When the bell rang at the end of class, he jumped up out of his seat as quickly as he could and headed towards Potter's seat with purpose. Operation Get-Potter-To-Snog-Me-Even-Though-I-Don't-Fancy-The-Bespecled-Git-At-All (he'd thought of the name as he sprinkled his potion with root dust) was officially in motion. As Potter was cleaning up his station, Draco swept by and swiftly knocked all of Potter's belongings onto the floor. "Oops, clumsy me," he drawled casually, smirking as the Weasel's face turned the same shade as his hair. _Ew, yep. Definitely not as attractive as when Potter did it. _

Potter glared at Draco halfheartedly for a moment as if he were going to say something nasty, but instead sighed. "It's all right, guys. You can go, I'll catch up with you."

After a few murmurs of 'are you sure's and 'see you later, mate's, Granger and Weasley left, but not before shooting Draco twin looks of loathing. Then it was just Draco and Potter alone in the room. Draco pretended to be inspecting his own area as he inwardly jumped for joy. Yes! His scheme was going just as planned.

He subtly stood underneath the doorway just as Potter finished packing up. "Honestly, Potter, you're a clumsy oaf," he teased, but not unkindly, as he held the mistletoe behind his back. He appeared to be casually leaning against the frame.

Potter approached him looking a bit surprised by Draco's somewhat playful tone. "Oh, right, as if you've never done it," he replied, with lighthearted sarcasm.

"I haven't," Draco said stubbornly. Potter only snorted (and was that a hint of a smile Draco detected?)

His heart pounded through his ears as Potter came closer to the doorway and therefore his kiss. A_lmost there… almost theeere…_

"_Potter_," A loud, disdainful voice sneered from across the room, cutting through the silent tension like a sharp knife. Draco groaned inwardly. Damn it! Snape was coming out of the ingredients pantry with a terribly bitter expression directed at Potter. "For making a complete mess of your Potion today, I am taking away ten points from Gryffindor and you will be sorting out the ingredients as a punishment."

Potter rolled his eyes. "Right now, sir?" he snapped, obviously trying very hard not to say something he'd regret.

Snape smirked evilly. "Yes, right now. I want them all filed alphabetically. Do not disappoint me with inaccuracy."

Potter slumped his shoulders a bit, shuffling over to the little room to begin his punishment. Of course. Draco stared after him helplessly until he couldn't see him any longer, and then held the mistletoe up and muttered, "bloody mistletoe."

It was then that Snape started towards the doorway to leave, but when he saw Draco standing there with the mistletoe dangling from his fingers, he stopped and stared at him with a quizzical expression. Draco realised that it appeared as though he were waiting for the man to pass underneath the plant. Oh, this was uncomfortable.

He widened his eyes and shook his head vigorously. "Oh no, sir, I'm sorry, no this isn't—I mean, I'm _not_—"

Snape carefully slid past and gave him another weird, almost sympathetic look. "You're very odd, Draco," he said slowly, backing away as if he were a particularly deadly potion gone awry. Draco rolled his eyes. Right, as if he would try and make a move on his own godfather. Honestly.

He sighed irritably as he stomped his way through the dungeons, leaving the classroom in an absolute huff. He was disappointed. How was he going to make Potter kiss him if he was never alone? This damn plan was a lot harder to enforce than he'd previously imagined. And he probably should change the name too; it was awfully ridiculous, even for him.

**~x~**

Harry stumbled out of the Potions pantry a couple hours later. "I swear, one day," he mumbled angrily, rubbing his throbbing head.

All that alphabetising had left him with a massive headache, and all he wanted to do was lay down and take a nap on the couch before dinner. Maybe he'd even get the password for the Prefects bathroom from Ron and he could take a nice bath. It would certainly be nice to soak his aching muscles in soapy bliss. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, calmingly. Just forget about Snape and his stupid Potions sorting. Forget about Malfoy and his stupid remarks.

Harry sighed and rubbed his head again. Speaking of Malfoy, he couldn't believe that the blond had seen him and Zabini together... Gods. It was so embarrassing. The shame! He'd never be able to look the two of them in the eye again. But what was even worse though, was the look on his face. He looked bewildered of course, but at the same time he had this look of perception, as if he could somehow tell that Harry had actually enjoyed kissing another male. And that was thing that was unnerving Harry the most… he did like it. A lot. It was a truly satisfying kiss, even if it _were_ Zabini. And the fact that Malfoy could've somehow seen right through him made Harry feel extremely unsettled. He usually didn't give a fuck about what Malfoy thought but... this was different. He couldn't get that strange look out of his mind; it was haunting him.

Then Harry had noticed that Malfoy had been staring at him all throughout Potions class with that same expression and it made him even more uncomfortable. And after class, Malfoy had lingered around and even been a bit nice to him. Why was he doing that? Was he disgusted or sympathetic or mocking or what? What was his game? The Paranoid-Potter charade? Well, it wasn't funny.

And as if things couldn't get even more worse… Harry had definitely realised that Malfoy wore really _tight _robes. Like skin-tight. Like tight enough so that he could see every slender curve on Malfoy's surprisingly toned body…

Harry shook his head and tried to get the image out of his head. Maybe he could admit that he was a bit on the gay side, but that didn't mean he had to think about Malfoy like that, right? He'd always hated Malfoy, hadn't he? He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It didn't matter how he looked at Malfoy anyway, the Slytherin would never feel the same way about him. Whatever he was feeling, anyway. Which he still wasn't sure of.

"Hey, Potter," a voice called out from behind him.

Harry exhaled noisily and turned around. It was Zabini. "Now what?" he asked tiredly, wanting to go back to his dorm and fall asleep. Wait, scratch that. The bath.

Zabini tossed him a mistletoe plant wordlessly and Harry frowned at it. He'd been expecting a few taunting words or even a confrontation, but this? This was random. "Um, thanks? But I don't want it," he tried to throw it back to Zabini, but the other boy just shook his head.

"You know, I'm not the only Slytherin boy who's a good kisser," he remarked with a wink. Then he turned on his heel and promptly disappeared down the corridor.

Harry frowned after him, and then at the plant again. It had an emerald green ribbon tied neatly around it and was trimmed to perfection. "Bloody mistletoe," he mumbled. The boy was insane, that was the only explanation. Why else would Zabini babble on about how he wasn't the only Slytherin bloke who...? _Oh_. Harry's thoughts drifted to Malfoy again. How did Zabini even know about that anyways? Did he see the way that Harry looked at Malfoy in class? Oh, it didn't even matter; he wasn't going to do it.

_But maybe he could... _

No, no. Malfoy would never allow him to get anywhere near him with mistletoe and furthermore, he'd probably hex him into next week. But still... the idea was intriguing. _I could make it look like a mistake_, he thought. _Yeah. A mistake. He'd never know._

Harry tucked the plant in his pocket and rolled his eyes at the thought of him using mistletoe. Him, of all people. It was entirely against everything he'd been preaching to his friends all week but, if he could sneak just one little kiss with Malfoy just to _satiate_ his curiousity, then maybe it was worth it. Now he just had to figure out what the plan was and how to implement it properly. Harry smiled slowly. Suddenly, he wasn't so exhausted anymore.

**~x~**

Draco tapped on his plate irritably as he stared at the Gryffindor table. Where_ was_ Potter? Draco wanted to get Operation GPTSMETIDFTBGAA on the move again (he had been going to change the name, but it was actually starting to grow on him a little now). Why must Potter insist on being late for absolutely everything? It was not an appealing trait. Although Draco could easily say that it didn't matter either way.

Pansy rolled her eyes at him. "Looking for someone?" she asked sarcastically, gesturing towards the Gryffindor table with a knowing smirk.

Draco scowled. "Shut up, you hag. I'm trying to concentrate."

Pansy snorted. "On what? He's not even there yet. Just eat your dinner, will you, and stop obsessing over Potter. Honestly."

Draco nodded absentmindedly. "I'm not obsessing over him. But yeah, yeah. Whatever." As he spoke the words, Potter entered the hall, looking much more refreshed than he did a couple hours ago. He almost appeared to be… _glowing_. Draco's breath caught when he saw that Potter's cheeks were flushed and little flakes of snow feathered over his dark hair. He'd obviously been out playing Quidditch. Gods, that was so sexy.

"Operation GPTSMETIDFTBGAA is now in motion," he murmured to himself, watching as Potter glanced over briefly and sat down at his table. Then he slunk down in his seat and patted the mistletoe in his pocket to make sure it was still there. He felt like a secret agent or something.

Pansy chuckled. "Why does your plan have to be in the Great Hall? Why not somewhere else?"

Draco gave her a look of incredulity. "Honestly Pansy, don't you know anything? These things always have to happen in a big, public place. This is a Christmas plot of seduction, for Merlin's sake! Duh! Now shut up and help me stare at Potter."

Pansy shoved at his shoulder with a smile. "Why would you need help with that? You're doing it intensely enough for the both of us, I assure you."

"Don't you be a smart arse. Okay, do you remember the plan?" Draco whispered furiously as they were finishing.

Pansy rolled her eyes and pretended to check invisible items off an invisible checklist. "Yeah. I'll levitate the mistletoe above your head when you go and taunt Potter. Got it. Now go, will you?"

Draco sent her another look, sneakily passed her the plant, and then got up to execute the plan. He was halfway to the Gryffindor table when, unexpectedly, Potter bumped right into him. How curious! When the other boy's bright green eyes flashed upon seeing him, Draco's stomach was filled with stupid nervous butterflies and he didn't know why. It was just Potter, for Merlin's sake. There was nothing to be nervous about.

"Potter," he sneered weakly. He didn't really know what else to say, because his plan was kind of being thwarted right now. Damn Potter, forever thwarting his plans!

"Malfoy," Potter replied easily. His eyes were still glittering with something, something that looked suspiciously like wickedness.

Draco was about to say something else when he noticed that the mistletoe was floating over his head already. Oh, come on! He hadn't even gotten to his punch line yet! He turned around to glare at Pansy, furiously mouthing, "pssst! I told you not to until I got him pinned to the floor, you bint!"

But Pansy only looked confused. "That wasn't me," she mouthed back.

Draco frowned and glanced back up, discovering that she was right. The mistletoe above them had a small green ribbon instead of a red one. Where had that come from? And who would do it? Pansy was now levitating the red-ribbon mistletoe towards them as well.

Draco turned back around and gaped at Potter. "If that's not... and you're... then _who_...?"

Potter watched Draco's mistletoe levitate towards them with a peculiar expression before answering with a tiny nod towards the Gryffindor table. Draco caught a brief glimpse of Weasley guiltily trying to hide his wand. _The fuck?__ Why the hell would he…?_

Oh. Draco looked back at Potter with questioning eyes. Was he trying to pull an accidental mistletoe plan too? How dare he! That was Draco's idea! ... But he had to admit, Potter looked pretty damn attractive right now, with that mixed guilty and proud expression on his face. "Potter, I—"

Potter only grabbed his shoulders and pulled him closer brazenly. "Just kiss me already, you git."

Draco didn't waste any time. He wrapped his arms around Potter's neck and kissed the other boy with all he had. Gods, what an electric shock! It rippled throughout his entire body and he shuddered in Potter's arms, only to be tightly squeezed back in reassurance, along with those lips.

After a few minutes of gasping and yelling in the Great Hall, Potter pulled away smiling and whispered, "Operation GMTSMETHHMAWPHMBO complete," just as Draco muttered, "Operation GPTSMETIDFTBGAA is a success."

They both stared at each other in surprise.

"Mine was Get-Malfoy-To-Snog-Me-Even-Though-He-Hates-Me-And-Will-Probably-Hex-My-Balls-Off," Potter explained, a huge, childish grin blooming on his face.

Draco raised an eyebrow in a challenging manner. "And mine was Get-Potter-To-Snog-Me-Even-Though-I-Don't-Fancy-The-Bespecled-Git-At-All," he countered. His mouth twitched in effort not to smile back.

Blaise spoke up from the Slytherin table. "Well, _mine _was Operation Give-Both-Of-Those-Sods-Mistletoe-Because-Potter-Is-A-Clueless-Prat-And-Draco-Is-A-Whiny-Prat-And-They-Should-Just-Fucking-Snog-Already!_"_

Potter laughed loudly at that. "Looks like we're all successful." He looked up at the two floating plants above their heads. "There are two of them, you know," he observed, with a speculative look. "So I guess we can't leave until we snog again."

Draco glanced around at their surrounding classmates all gaping and watching them unashamedly. And he couldn't see Dumbledore from here, but he would bet _anything_ that the old man's eyes were twinkling like it was nobody's business right now. He started to let the grin spread across his face. This was only the beginning of something new, something truly… interesting. And he couldn't wait to discover it all.

"It's only logical," he agreed, before lunging for Potter's lips again.

Potter laughed in between kisses and replied, "bloody mistletoe."


End file.
